If I’d have predicted how much the Bechdel Test would ruin my enjoyment of cinema, then I might rather not have known about it. For those of you who remain blissfully ignorant, it’s a simple way of thinking about the way that women are represented in whatever film you happen to be watching, thereby ruining…
Ha, Ha, Fucking Ha: Why the Return of Page 3 is No Laughing Matter
Sometimes I wish that I didn’t check Twitter as soon as my fuzzy morning head is able to competently operate a smart phone. That way, I wouldn’t have been confronted with the news of the return of Page 3 over my porridge. It seems that my little victory jig was somewhat premature – normality has…
The Death of Page 3
With the announcement of the glorious victory of the No More Page 3 campaign comes the inevitable backlash from the liberal media bemoaning the loss of freedom such ‘censorship’ involves. Whilst purporting to be anti- page 3 themselves, journalists and commentators crawl out of the woodwork to fret about the implications such a move may…
The Loneliness of the Stay At Home Mother or: The Importance of Being Equal
I have a confession to make: being a stay at home mum isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. I hate housework, loathe laundry and haven’t baked a cupcake in months. My carpet is unhoovered, there are cobwebs in every corner of every room and I have even started to avoid doing the weekly shop….
The Ghost of Christmas Past: Spare a Thought for Survivors Everywhere
I have been thinking about writing a Christmas blog post for a while – something festive and lighthearted to warm your cockles. The problem is that Christmas is a complicated time for families scarred by domestic abuse and it is inevitably difficult to navigate. My parents split up 10 years ago so I no longer…
Nobody puts baby in the corner
Being a feminist means that I am used to being shocked by the double standards in our society but recently there seems to be a worrying trend in terms of women being shamed for using their bodies for firstly producing babies and subsequently having the nerve to feed them. Kim Kardashian’s shiny naked butt glistening…
The Problem with Porn
I sometimes struggle remembering what I did yesterday but the details of the first porn film I ever watched have stayed with me. I knew my brother had somehow managed to procure a dirty video and I also knew that if I was careful I could watch it quietly in the living room when nobody…
Another day, another rape apologist
It’s been a good month for feminism – rapey ‘comedian’ Dapper Laughs imploded under the weight of his own misogyny, notorious pick up artist Julien Blanc has been refused entry to the UK, and now Sheffield United have finally come to their senses and sent Ched Evans off to enjoy the rest of his sentence. It…
Daddy’s girl
I was about 10 when I first realised that the beatings weren’t reserved for me and my two siblings. The knowledge that my Dad hit my Mum too was like walking through a portal into an alien landscape and the world was never the same again. Everyone I knew got hit by their parents occasionally,…
Is Sex Work?
Last year a friend of mine suggested that prostitution was analogous to the domestic service industry, arguing that poor pay and conditions and trafficking can be an issue in both sectors and as such, feminists should be campaigning to decriminalise prostitution and improve conditions for sex workers. I had recently attended the first Women’s Conference…
Too pink or not too pink?
The nights are drawing in, Goose Fair is done and dusted and the leaves are slowly changing colour and falling from the trees – it can only mean one thing: it’s birthday season in the Tastic household. Thankfully I only seem to be able to conceive children in the middle of February, so both my…
“She’s let herself go a bit hasn’t she?”
I have a confession to make: I am a feminist and I am on a diet. Not the kind of diet with sins or points or one where you have to pay someone to humiliate you in front of a room full of people every week, but the kind where you just decide to cut…
Woman As Subject 